Automotive vehicles such as so-called mini-vans have one and sometimes two sliding doors. These sliding doors often do not close tightly, and thus become the source of rattles and squeaks. What is needed is something to hold a sliding door firmly closed without any cross-car or inboard and outboard movement.
In accordance with the present invention, a stabilizer is provided having a female part secured to a pillar, sometimes referred to as the "B" pillar, of the vehicle and a male part secured to the door. The female part has a socket portion adapted to receive a projecting portion of the male part. One of the portions, preferably the socket portion, has a plurality of ribs to contact the other portion, in this case the projecting portion, when the projecting portion is engaged therein.
Preferably the socket portion is in the form of a pocket having spaced confronting side walls. Each side wall has spaced apart slots, and ribs of a compressible material fill the slots. Preferably the ribs in the slots of one side wall are staggered with respect to the ribs in the slots of the other side wall.
In the preferred construction about to be described, the ribs are parallel and extend from the pocket opening toward the bottom of the pocket. The ribs are thus generally aligned with the direction of movement of the projecting portion of the male part into the pocket when the door is closed.
One object of this invention is to provide a stabilizer for a sliding door having the foregoing features and capabilities.
Another object is to provide a stabilizer which is composed of a relatively few simple parts, is rugged and durable in use, and is capable of being easily and inexpensively manufactured and installed.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds, especially when considered with the accompanying drawings.